Apparatus for controlling burners



y 1934. F. e. HAUSLER 1,958,240

APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING BURNERS FOR FLUID FUEL Filed Dec. 10, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l y 1934- F. e. HAUSLER 1,958,240

APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING BURNERS FOR FLUID FUEL Filed Dec. 10, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 8, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING BURNERS FOR' FLUIn FUEL Fred G. Hausler, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to The Cleveland Cooperative Stove Company, Cleveland, Ohio, at corporation'of Ohio Application December 10, 1931, Serial No.-580,074

28 Claims.

and particularly domestic gas ranges, heaters and the like.

An object of ,the present invention is to insure greater safety and efficiency of such heaters and gas burning equipment.

A more specific object is to prevent the escape and accumulation of unburned fuel from such burners.

A correlative object is to stop the supply of fuel to the service burners promptly when the pilot burner becomes and remains extinguished for a a short interval.

Another specific object is to provide an efiiciently operated master cutoff valve for the service burner.

.Another object is to provide an improved pilot burner which will maintain a suificient fiow of fuel under varying feed line pressures to preclude the extinguishment of the flame.

Still another object is to maintain more efiicient mutual lighting relationship between the pilot and service burner and among the service burners directly.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an economical and efficient automatic cutoff valve which may be easily installed for operation in all the conventional gas ranges, heaters and the like.

Another object is to provide means whereby the automatic valve is responsive only to a defined source of heat and is unaffected by the heat radiated generally from the burning apparatus.

Other objects and advantages will become apparat from the following specification wherein reference is made to the drawings by the use of numerals.

In the drawings-- Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of the gas range service burners with the device of the present invention installed and shows the rela-- tive position of the device;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the pilot and cutoff valveillustrating the cutoff position of the elements resulting from extinguish-- open operating position of the pilot when ignited Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of a preferred form of plug for the pilot burner;

Fig. 6 is a partial sectional view of a firing tube and service burner illustrating the manner of establishing mutual lighting relationship between the pilot and service burner, and

,- Fig. 7 is a modified form of cutoif valve oper-.

gas range and an outlet feed line 3 which leads to the respective burners, the body having a passage therethrough normally open for communicating these feed lines. The feed line 3 in turn communicates with the service burners 4 through a conduit line 5, the usual Venturi mixing tube arrangement 6 and manually operable stop cocks or valves 7 being provided for controlling the flow of gas to the respective service burners.

One form of the pilot and cutofi valve is illustrated in detail in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the body inlet passage which communicates with the main feed line 2 being designated 10 and the outlet passage which communicates with the feed line 3 being designated 11. Within the body is a web or partition wall 12 having an opening 14 therethrough for the passage of gas from the inlet passage or chamber '10 of the valve to the outlet-passageor chamber 11. An annular seating area 15 is provided about the opening 14 on the inlet side and permits efiective seating thereby stopping the flow of fuel to the service burners.

An efiicient valve' arrangement may comprise the disc plug .16, having a seating area complementary to the seat 15 of the opening and adapted to seat thereon. The valve disc is mounted on a coaxial stem 18 which in turn is mounted in a sleeve 20 and is slidable axially therein. For convenience in assemblage, the sleeve 20 may be squeeze fitted into a. sealing plug 21 which is secured in the body 1. The sleeve 20 also serves as a boss for supporting a spring 22 which acts to seat the valve disc. The valve disc above described is operably connected with the pilot burner, preferably through a toggle connection, so as to be caused to seat consequent upon the pilot becoming extinguished and remaining so for a short interval, as will later be described. On the inner end of the stem 18 and extending toward the inlet chamber 11 of the body is a of a cutoff valve for sealing the passage 14 and toggle link 23 which is pivotally secured at one end to the inner end of the stem 18. At the opposite side of the chamber 11 is a rigid supporting bar 24 having an inwardly extending yoke 25, between the arms of which is pivotally mounted a toggle link 26, cooperable with the toggle link 23, the toggle links 23 and 26 being pivotally secured together at their adjacent inner ends.

In idle position, the toggle links buckle upwardly and consequently, upon camming of the linksdownwardly, the toggle joint is expanded, unseating the valve plug 16 against the compression of the spring 22. The toggle joint is forced slightly past its fully expanded position so that upon release, thespring 18 will tend to cause it to buckle downwardly. Near the inner end of the toggle link 23 is a shoulder 27, positioned to engage the upper edge of the toggle link 26 when the toggle is thus expanded through and slightly past its fully expanded position. The shoulder 27 arrests movement of the toggle a short distance past the fully expanded position. The shoulder 27 and spring thus cooperate to maintain the toggle firmly in the last mentioned position, maintaining the valve plug 16 fully unseated.

A stem 28, mounted for rotation in the yoke 25 and extending outside of the body so as to be operable from the outside, is provided for expanding the toggle, the stem carrying near its inner end a lever arm or cam 29 which engages the upper edge of one of the toggle arms for moving the toggle arms downwardly consequent upon rotation of the stem. Suitable means, such as a spring 30 acts to swing the cam or lever 29 and stem away from the toggle and back to their starting position. Mounted on the body in a manner later to be described, is

a pilot burner and operating mechanism which is adapted to trip the toggle links for releasing the valve plug 16 consequent upon movements of certain elements of the pilot combination to difierent positions.

In the one form of my invention here illustrated, the releasing element operated by the pilot combination may comprise a lug 32, carried on a stem 33 which is movable in the operating plane of the toggle links toward and away from said toggle links.

The lug 32 is pivoted on the stem 33 for swinging toward and away from the path of travel of the common pivotal connection of the toggle links, the lug being urged toward the toggle connection 'by a spring 34 and its movement in such direction being arrested by cooperating shoulder of the stem and lug, so as to yieldably maintain the lug in proper position relative to the toggle. A shoulder 36, formed on thelug 32, projects toward the toggle connection, the link 26 of which carries a cooperating shoulder 3'7 which projects into the path of travel of the shoulder 36 when the toggle is in the position for maintaining the valve plug 16 unseated.

The stem 33 remains raised to the fully raised position illustrated in Fig. 2 while the pilot is extinguished and in this position the shoulder 3'7 may pass or clear the shoulder 36 as the toggle is moved to and slightly past the expanded position to unseat the valve plug 16.

When the stem 33 is moved downwardly, the

shoulder 36 of the lug 32 strikes the end of the toggle arm and swings the lug 32 away from the end of the arm. After relative passage of the shoulder 36 and the end of the toggle arm,

the lug 32 is returned to its aligned position by the spring, thus disposing the shoulder 36 into position to engage shoulder 37 when the stem 33 is again lifted. Thus the lifting of the stem 33 straightens the toggle against an additional slight compression of the valve spring 22, drawing the toggle slightly past dead center. Immediately upon lifting the toggle past dead center, the spring 22 and valve plug 16 are released, buckling the toggle upwardly.

The valve plug is seated firmly by its spring, thus acting to cut off the entire supply of gas to the service burners and pilot burner.

It should be noted that the stem 33 may be lifted and lowered through a short distance without causing engagement of the shoulders 36 and 3'7 and a consequent release of the toggle and the valve disc 16.

This lost motion is an especially important feature when the cutoff valve is operated by a self-adjusting pilot, such as here illustrated, which is more fully described in my co-pending application Ser. No. 580,075 filed Dec. 10, 1931.

The pilot, which I prefer to use in connection with the cutoff valve, is best illustrated in Figs. 2 to 5 inclusive. Thepilot so disclosed comprises a plug having a head 40 and a smaller diameter neck 41 which may be integral with the stem 33 which operates the toggle. The pilot plug may be slidably mounted in a flanged sleeve 42, carried on the body 1 and having internal offset bores 43 and 44 of diameters corresponding respectively to the diameters of the head 40 and neck 41. The bore 44 communicates with the inlet chamber-or passage 11 of the valve body and is positioned so that the pilot plug and stem 33 are in properly aligned positions for operating the toggles. One or more longitudinal slots 45 are provided in the inner walls of the sleeve 44 and open into the chamber 11 at the lower end. The slots 45 communicate with the bore 43 at the upper end so as'to permit passage of gas therethrough and into the bore 43. The pilot plug is tapped with a longitudinal central duct 46 which extends downwardly through the head 40 and neck 41 wherein it terminates in a transverse duct 47 in the neck. A suitable seating area is provided on the shoulder 49 formed by the offset bores 43 and 44, a complementary seating area being provided on the underside of the plug head-40 so that the plug head may seat on the shoulder 49 and prevent passage of the gas from the bore 44 into the bore 43 through the groove or duct 45 which opens into the bore 43 on the shoulder 49. Ducts 50 extending from the seating area of the head 40 and arranged for discharging gas throughsaid head may be provided. In the form illustrated, these ducts extend upwardly through the head, terminating in diagonally extending ducts 51 near the upper.

end of the head. When the plug is in the open or raised position shown in Fig. 2, the gas from the chamber 11 may pass upwardly through the duct 45 into the bore 43 and then through the ducts 50 and 51, whereby it is conducted to the top of the plug and discharged outwardly from the plug head. At the same time, gas continually passes into the duct 47 and thence. escapes through the duct 46. Thus, the normal flow of gas out of the plug head through the duct 46 is augmented by the gas discharged through the ducts 50 and 51. When the plug is seated, however, as illustrated in Fig. 3, the ducts 50 are sealed and gas can pass only through the duct 46. A sErew needle valve of the usual type may be'provided in the stem 33, as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 for adjusting the volume of flow of gas through the burners.

series of firing tubes 60, which if desired may be duct 46.

- In order to raise and lower the plug for releasing the cutoff valve and for effecting this control, I provide a number of thermostatic levers 52, the lower ends of which may be secured to the flange of the sleeve 42 and the upper ends of which are operatively connected to the plug 40 through the medium of a suitable rigid yoke 53. These levers are lei-metallic and are normally bowed inwardly, as illustrated. The bimetallic laminations are so arranged that upon heating of the levers, the upper portions of levers tend to curl out and downwardly a greater amount, thus shortening vertically and bowing inwardly and forcing the plug downwardly and seating the same. For efficient operation, the levers are pivotally secured to the yoke arms by a free acting pivotal connection so as to swing relative thereto as the levers draw the yoke downwardly. The levers 52 are preferably recessed, as indicated at 54 near the vertical center of the flame so as to provide air passages for maintaining the pilot flame out of continuous direct contact with the levers and at the same time in close proximity thereto, as more fully described in my copendingapplication, Serial No. 580,075, filed December 10, 1931 above referred to.

In this manner, a comparatively large amount of gas is furnished through the pilot when operation is begun so that it may be easily ignited. Very shortly afterit is ignited, the pilot plug seats so that the pilot burns with a comparatively low flame. The lost motion connection described, in conjunction with the shoulders 36 and 3'7, is of such an amount-that this adjustment of the pilot is possible without tripping the toggle. Again, due to the lost motion, after the plug 40 has seated and the shoulder 36 moved into aligned position with and below the shoulder 37, the plug head can lift a predetermined distance for permitting the greater inflow of gas, if the pilot flame becomes too small, Without tripping the toggle. If the pilot flame is-completely extinguished however, so that the bimetallic members are not subjected to its heat, the plug is lifted to an extreme upward position past the position permitted by the lost motion, and trips the toggle in the manner described, by engagement of the shoulders 3'7 and 36. This action releases the cutoff valve which stops entirely the flow of gas to the pilot and service burners.

In order to render the apparatus completely automatic, an annular shell 56 is provided about the pilot,.the shell being closed at the top except for the usual outlet vent 58. A series of openings are provided in the shell 56 at separated positions about the circumference thereof to permit passage of the flame from the pilot out toward the Extending into these openings are a such as described in my copending application, Ser. No. 580,076 filed Dec. 10, 1931 which tubes extend outwardly to the service burners 4 of the range or heater. As more fully described in my copending application and here illustrated in Fig. 6,- each of the burners is tapped as at 6'7 to form a passage for discharging gas from the burner into the firing tube. When the firing tube becomes filled with gas, part of the gas escapes into the shell 56 where it is ignited bythe pilot flame and flashes back through the firing tube and across the vents 64 of the service burner, ignit ing the gas issuing from the latter. This action is facilitated by providing along the bottom of each firing'tube a series of spaced apertures 66 which bleed air into the tube. Obviously, it is necessary only to turn on the flow of gas to the service burner in the usual manner by the manually operated stop cock'and the gas therefrom will be ignited automatically. on the other hand, if the pilot light becomes extinguished, the plug thereof unseats and permits a greater amount of gas to flow through the plug into the shell 56 and this gas soon finds its way into the firing tube and passes to the burner where it is ignited and flashes back, relighting the pilot. Thereupon, the pilot plug quickly reseats and reduces the pilot flame. This occurs in a very short interval, before the pilot has operated the cutoff valve 16. Thus, when any burner is turned on or the pilot becomes extinguished, and if one or the other is burning, the other is automatically lighted therefrom. 'If, however, both the pilot and service burners are extinguished, the thermostatic levers 52 lift the pilot plug and trip the toggle, thus permitting seating of the valve disc 16 and closing off the supply of gas to both the burners and the pilot.

Instead of using the toggle connection for operating the cutofi valve, I may use a structure such as illustrated in Fig 7, wherein the stem 70, which corresponds in form and operation to the stem 33 above described, is provided with another means of latching the cutoff valve disc 16' in open position and releasing it when the stem 70 is raised by the pilot. In such case, the stem 13 of the valve disc carries a coaxial rod '72 which extends from the valve disc across the outlet chamber of the valve body and is slidably mounted in a sleeve '73 carried on a rigid supporting plate 24', corresponding to the plate 24 in Fig. 2. The

end of the rod 72 is slotted longitudinally at the end and a pin 74 is passed through the sleeve 73 and slot 74 for preventing rotation of the rod 72.

Intermediate the ends of the rod 72 is an annular groove 75 which forms one of the latching elements. The lower end of the stem 73 is tapped axially to form a bore which is partially closed at its lower end by an annular shoulder '76. A pin 77 is telescopically mounted for lost motion in the bore '75, the pin being held therein by an enlarged 125 end '78 which engages the shoulders 76. The pin 77 is maintained in its extended position relative to the bore '75 by means of a spring 71, allowance being made in the compression of the spring to obtain the lost motion action on the pin 77. When the stem 70 is lowered by the thermostatic bars through the medium of the pilot plug, the spring '71 is compressed and the lower end of the pin 77 rests on the surface of the rod '72. The slot 75 is positioned on the rod so that upon unseating of the valve disc 16' the slot 75 is aligned with the pin 77 and the pin immediately is urged thereinto by the spring 71, thus locking the valve in the unseated position. When the stem '70 is raised to its extreme upward position as a result of the pilot being extinguished, the lost motion between the stem and pin 77 is taken up and the pin then lifted out of the slot 75, releasing the rod 77 and permitting seating of the valve' disc 16 by its seating spring for the purposes formerly described. Due to the lost motion, the pilot plug may operate within required limits to control the flow of gas thereto, without withdrawing the pin from the of the valve body, having a lever arm 81, is mounted in the valve body in a position to engage a shoulder 82 on the rod 72 for unseating the valve disc 16.

An additional advantage and safety feature of this modified arrangement over those formerly described, resides in the fact that when the pilot light is extinguished, the pin 77 is raised clear of the rod 72, consequently the valve 16 must be held open through the medium of the rod 80 and lever arm 81 during lighting of the pilot and until the pilot has burned for a few seconds and lowered the pin 77 the proper amount to engage the slot 74. Consequently, the valve disc 16' must be held in unseated position by the operator, until the pilot is warm and burning efliciently, and the danger of its becoming extinguished is greatly reduced.

Regardless of which type of pilot is used, greater accuracy and sensitivity of the thermostatic levers are obtained if the levers are efliciently operated by the heat of the pilot flame and are not influenced by the heat of the range or service burner. As above explained, the ducts 51 direct the gas directly against the thermostatic levers for a short interval when the plug is partly raised, so that they may be heated and act more rapidly. Additional air should be provided for burning this additional gas efliciently so that carbonaceous deposits will not form on and partially insulate the levers. Again, the heat from the service burners is considerable, especially in closed top ranges and heaters. For example, the heater temperature may be 900 maximum. In such case, the pilot should operate at about 1000 and should cut off the gas supply to the heater or range at a temperature above -900, otherwise if both the pilot and the service burners were extinguished,

the levers would not release the cut off valve promptly, due to the heat radiated generally from the range.

To provide additional air for increasing the efllciency of combustion of the pilot flame and at the same time to prevent the heat from the range from affecting the action of the thermostatic levers, cool air ducts 62 opening at the rear of the stove and communicating with the interior of the shell 56 are provided. The cool outside air drawn into the shell-56 through these ducts maintains the interior .of the shell relatively cool. The shell itself may be covered with insulating material for further reducing the effect of the stove temperature therein. Consequently the levers 52 are responsive only to the pilot flame and the desired greater accuracy and sensitivity is attained.

From the above description, it is apparent that I have provided a simple and eflicient means for controlling the flow of fuel to such burners and have rendered the control more accurate and sa e.

While I have described a preferred form of 1m; invention for use in connection with fuel buming heaters, the structure disclosed may be modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. The combination with a service burner and pilot burner for lighting the same, of means operable by the heat of the pilot flame for increasing and reducing the flow of fuel to the pilot in an inverse relation to changes in intensity of said pilot flame, and valve means operable by movement of the first named means to a predetermined position for stopping the flow of fuel to the service burner.

2. In a service burner and pilot burner combination, means for reducing and increasing the volume of flow of gas through said pilot burner in inverse relation to the intensity of the pilot flame,

said means comprising a thermostatic lever means disposed in heating relation to the pilot flame and a valve device operable by the thermostatic lever means, and means including said thermostatic lever means for cutting off flow of gas to both of said burners consequent upon the pilot flame becoming and remaining extinguished for a predetermined short interval.

3. A fluid control device, comprising a body having an inlet passage and a plurality of outlet passages, a burner, means for reducing and increasing the flow of fluids through said body in an inverse relation to the intensity of the heat produced by a flame of said burner, said means comprising thermostatic lever means disposed in heating relation to said frame and a valve operable by said thermostatic lever means for varying the intensity of flow, and means including said thermostatic lever means for completely stopping the flow of fluids through all of said outlet passages consequent upon predetermined reduction of the heat produced by said flame.

4. A fluid control device, comprising a body having inlet and outlet passages, a burner, means,

for reducing and increasing the flow of fluids through said body in inverse relation to the intensity of the heat from a flame of said burner, said means comprising thermostatic lever means disposed in heating relation to said flame and a valve device operable by the thermostatic lever means for varying the intensity of flow, a spring actuated valve settable manually in an open position for passing fluids through said body, said valve device being rendered operable by said thermostatic lever means to stop the flow of fluid through said body consequent upon a predetermined reduction of the heat produced by said 5. A fluid control devicecomprising a burner, a body having inlet and outlet passages, and means for increasing the flow of fluids through said body in inverse relation to the intensity of the heat from said burner, said means comprising thermostatic lever means disposed in heating relation to a flame of said burner, and valve means operable by the thermostatic lever means for varying the intensity of flow, a spring actuated, manually settable valve for completely stopping the flow of fluids through said body, said valve being rendered operable to stop the flow of fluid consequent upon continued operation of the thermostatic lever means in their direction of movement for increasing said flown 6. The combination with a service burner and pilot burner having a firing tube for conducting gas fromone of said burners to the other for lighting one burner from the other, of means including a thermostatic lever in heating relation to the pilot burner operable for increasing the flow of gas into said tube consequent uponsaid pilot burner becoming and remaining extinguished for a'short interval whereby the extinguished burner may be ignited more readily, and a valve means operable by said thermostatic lever for stopping the supply of gas to both of said burners consequent upon both of said burners being extinguished.

7. In a service burner and a pilot burner combination, a firing tube for conducting gas from one of said burners to the other for lighting one from the other, thermostatic lever means in heating relation to one of said burners operable for increasing the flow of gas into said tube consequent upon said burner associated with said thermostatic lever means becoming and remaining extinguished for a short interval, and means operable by said thermostatic lever means consequent upon the extinguished burner remaining extinguished for a longer interval for blocking the supply of gas to both of said burners.

8. In a fuel burning device, a burner, a body having a passage communicating with the burner and with a source of fuel, a plug movable inwardly and outwardly of the body to change the size of said passage for fuel to said burner, a thermostat in heating relation to the flame of said burner and operatively connected to said plug, a cut ofl valve operable to stop entirely the flow of gas through said passage, and a lost motion connecting means operably connecting said thermostat and cut off valve, said connectingmeans initiating operation of the cut off valve when theplug is moved by said thermostat past a given position in the direction of movement to increase said passage.

9. Ina fuel burning device, a burner, a body having a passage for fuel, a plug for increasing the size of said fuel passage consequent upon movement of the plug in one direction and decreasing the size of passage when moved in the opposite direction, a spring seated cut ofl valve for blocking flow of fuel into said body, means to unseat said valve, latching means for latching the valve in unseated position, said latching means being operably connected to said plug by a lost motion connection and being withdrawn thereby for releasing the valve consequent upon movement of the plug past a given position in the path of travel of said plug when the plug is moving to increase said passage, and a thermostat in heating relation to the flame of said burner and operatively connected to said plug for moving said plug in said directions in response to variations in heat of said flame.

iii. In a pilot burner and service burner combination, a hollow body having a passage communicating the interior thereof with the service burner, a movable plug within said body having a continuously open passage communicating the interior of the body with the pilot burner, thermostatic lever means in heating relation to the pilot flame and connected to said plug for moving the same, a master valve seatable for blocking the flow of gas to said passages, means for unseating said valve, means for latching said valve in unseated position, and means engageable by said plug and actuated thereby conseuent upon movement of said plug by said thermostatic lever means for rendering the latching means idle whereby said valve seats and blocks the flow of fuel to said passages. 7

ii. A gas flow control pilot burner comprising a hollow body adapted for communication intervalve means operable by said thermostatic lever means for cutting ofi flowof gas through said service burner outlet and said passage consequent upon movement of said first mentioned means a predetermined distance in the direction of travel for increasing the volume of flow through said pilot burner.

12. A fluid flow control device including a burner, a body having an inlet and an outlet passage, and means for reducing the flow of fluids through said body in an inverse relation to the intensity of heat from the burner flame, said means comprising thermostatic lever means disposed in heating relation to said flame and a valve operable by said thermostatic lever means for varying the intensity of flow of fluids through the body, and means operable for completely stopping the flow of fluids through said body consequent upon movement of said first named means beyond a predetermined position in its direction of travel for increasing the flow.

13. A fluid flow control device, comprising a burner, a body having inlet and outlet passages, and means for reducing and increasing the flow of fluids through said body in an inverse relation to the intensity of heat from the flame of said burner, said means comprising thermostatic levermeans disposed in heating relation to said flame, a valve operable by said thermostatic lever means for varying the intensity of flow, and supplementary means for completely stopping the flow of fluids through said valve consequent upon a predetermined reduction of the heat produced by said flame, said supplementary means being operable consequent upon continued operation of said thermostatic lever means in the direction of movement for increasing said flow.

14. A fluid control device, comprising a burner, a hollow body, having a passage communicating with the burner to conduct fluid under pressure through said body to said burner and a discharge outlet, a plug in said body, said plug restricting the passage of fluid through said body to said burner when the plug is moved to one position and increasing it when withdrawn from said position, and thermostatic means for moving the plug to said restricting position consequent upon increase in temperature produced by combustion of the fluids passed through said body to said burner and for moving the plug to increasing position consequent upon reduction in said temperature, and means operable by said plug for cutting off entirely the flow of fluid through said passage and said outlet when said plug is moved to another position by the thermostatic means.

15. A burner device comprising a burner, a hollow body adapted for communicating with a source of fuel, a movable plug in said body, said plug having a continuously open passage communicating the interior of the body with said burner for maintaining a flame, a spring seated cut-ofi valve in said body for completely blocking said flow of fuel thereinto when said valve is seated, means for unseating said valve, means for latching said valve in unseated position, means operably connected to said plug and engageable with said latching means for releasing said latching means when theplug is moved to a given position, and thermostatic means in heating relation to the said flame and operably connected to the plug for moving the plug to and from said position in response to heat from said flame.

16. In a fuel burning device, a hollow body adapted to be connected to a source of fuel and having a discharge passage for emitting fuel therefrom to support a flame, a thermostat exteriorly of the body in heating relation to said 150 flame, a valve plug interiorly of the body for stopping the flow of fluid therethrough when the plug is in closed position, a spring urging said plug to closed position, toggle means operatively connected to the plug to move the plug to open position against the force of the spring consequent upon expansion of said toggle means and to retain the plug in said open position, means operable from the outside of the body to expand the toggle means, trigger means interiorly of the body movable in opposite directions and operative to pass the expanded toggle means when moved in one direction and to engage the expanded toggle means for breaking the same from expanded position when moved in the opposite direction whereby the plug closes, and means extending through said body discharge passage and connected to the thermostat and to the trigger means for moving the trigger means in said directions by the thermostat.

17. In a gas burning device, a hollow body adapted to be communicated with a source of gas and having a service outlet, a pilot discharge passage in the body for emitting gas therefrom to support a pilot flame, closure means in the body operable to cut oil the flow of gas through said.

service outlet and said pilot discharge passage when said closure means is closed, thermostatic means associated with the body exteriorly thereof and responsive to heat of said flame, means extending through said discharge passage and operably connecting the thermostatic means to the closure means operable to close the closure means consequent upon predetermined'operation 01' said thermostatic means in response to changes in the heat from said pilot flame.

18. A fluid control valve comprising a hollow body member, a burner, means to conduct fluid under pressure into said body member, a plug member in said body member, a fluid passage in one of said members, said plug member being operable to restrict the flow of fluid through said passage when the plug member is moved into one position and to increase the flow of fluid through said passage when withdrawn from said position, thermostatic means for moving the plug member to different positions consequent upon changes in temperature produced by the flame of said burner, a manually settable spring actuated valve for blocking entirely the flow of fluid through the body member when the valve is closed, means to latch said valve in open position and means operable consequent upon additional movement of said plug member past one of said positions to release said latching means whereby said valve is closed.

19. A fluid control device including a valve body, a valve plug withinthe body, said plug having a plurality of passages communicating with.

the interior of the body and discharging the contents thereof, one of said passages being continuously open and forming a continuous passage out from said body, another of said passages in said plug being normally closed and being opened when the plug moves to a given position, and thermostatically operated means responsive to heat produced by combustion of fluid discharged from said body for moving said plug to positions for opening and closing said last mentioned passage, and thereby varying the flow of fluids through said valve.

20. A fluid control device including a valve body member, a valve plug member within the body member, one of said members having a passage, said passage being continuously open and forming a continuous passage out from said body, another passage in one of said members, said latter passage being sealed and being opened for communicating the interior of the body with the exterior when the plug moves to given positions, and thermostatically operated means responsive to the heat produced by the combustion of fluid discharged from said body operable to move said plug to said positions for opening and sealing said last mentioned passage for varying the flow of fluids through said device.

21. A burner for fluid fuel, and means operable consequent upon changes of the heat from a flame of said burner for varying the flow of fuel to said burner, said means including a variable flow valve means, said valve means including relatively movable body and plug members, a thermostatic lever connected at one end to one of said members and connected at its other end to the other of said members, said thermostatic lever extending past the burner flame and being bowed inwardly to pass close to said flame, said lever being operable to bow inwardly toward the flame intermediate its points of connection consequent upon becoming heated thereby to move said members relatively together for decreasing the flow of fuel to said burner whereby said thermostatic lever is maintained close to said reduced flame.

22. In a gas burning device, a burner, a thermostatic lever for controlling flow of gas thereto, said lever being disposed longitudinally of the burner flame and in close proximity thereto, an air vent in said lever, said vent being disposed near the longitudinal center of said flame.

23. In a gas burner, means for automatically increasing the flow of fuel through said burner consequent upon a decrease in the intensity of the burner flame for increasing said flame, said means including a valve operable to vary said flow, a thermostatic lever in close heating relation to the flame of said burner and operably.

connected to said valve to operate the same, and means to direct the resulting additional gas through the burner toward the thermostatic lever, whereby the lever is subjected to a more closely spaced flame and reacts more rapidly.

24. In a pilot burner, a hollow body member, a plug member in said body member, one of said members having a duct continuously open for passing fuel entering the interior of the body member to the atmosphere for supporting a pilot flame, a supplementary duct in one of said members communicating with the interior of the body member and with the atmosphere for passing additional fuel from said body member to said flame, said plug member being movable to different positions relative to the body member for blocking and unblocking said supplementary duct for varying the intensity of the flame, and thermostatic means operatively connected to said plug member and disposed in heating relation to the pilot flame for moving said plug member to said different positions, said thermostatic means moving the plug member to position for blocking the supplementary duct when heated to a predetermined degree and withdrawing the plug member from said position for unblocking the supplementary duct when the heat is reduced a predetermined degree.

25. The combination with a service burner and a pilot burner in flashing relation thereto for lighting the service burner, of means operable by heat from the pilot burner flame to increase first mentioned means.

26, A burner comprising a hollow body having coaxial bores of different respective diameters,

. a passage communicating with the interior of the body and with the larger of said bores, a plug having a head and neck snugly fitting into said larger and smaller bores "respectively and slidable axially thereof, a duct in said plug communicating with the interior of the body and with the atmosphere for passing fuel entering the body to a flame of the burner, another duct a in the plug head communicating with the atmosphere and with said larger bore when the plug is in one position and being blocked when the plug is in another position, and means responsive to changes in intensity of the flame of the burner to move the plug axially in opposite directions to block and unblock respectively the last mentioned duct. 1

27. A pilot burner comprising a hollow body member, a-plug member extending within said body member, one of said members having a duct for passage of fuel from the body member to a pilot flame, said plug member being movable inwardly and outwardly of said body member and cooperable therewith when so moved to vary the flow of fuel to said flame, thermostatic levers extending longitudinally of the path of movement of the plug member in heating relation to said pilot flame, said levers each being pivotally connected to the plug member at one end and each being connected to the body member at the opposite end, said levers each normally being curled back from the flame at one end and each acting to move its ends toward and away from each other consequent upon heating and cooling of the levers, whereby the plug and body members are moved relatively together and apart to increase and decrease the flow of fuel to said flame.

28.- 'A burner for fluid fuels including a hollow body member, a plug member in said body member, one of said members having a duct continuously open for passing fuel entering the interior of the body member to the atmosphere for supporting a flame, a supplementary duct in one of said members communicating with the interior of the body member and with the atmosphere for passing additional fuel from the body member to said flame, said ducts discharging into the atmosphere in closely spaced relation to each other, said plug member being movable to different positions relative to the body member to block and to unblock said supplementary duct for varying the intensity of the flame, and

thermostatic means. operatively connected to said plug member and disposed in heating relation to the flame and operable to move the plug member to said different positions, said thermostatic means moving the plug member to a position to block the supplementary duct when the thermostatic means is heated to a predetermined degree and to withdraw the plug member from said position to unblock the supplementary duct when the heat is reduced a predetermined degree.

FRED G. HAUSLER. 

